Invisible Monsters
by Chuck Palahniuk
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W. W. Norton (New York): 1999. Trade paperback: 297 pages. ISBN-10: 0-393-31929-6 Suggested retail price: $13.95 (US) Tags: car accidents; Drama; drugs; homosexuality; hormone therapy; Mainstream; revenge; rifles; transsexuals Tactical strength: [5/10] |
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Shannon McFarland, narrator and protagonist, had made it to the top of the fashion modeling industry. She appeared on the cover of magazines and in trendy infomercials. But by the start of Invisible Monsters she has suffered from a tragic shooting that removes her lower jaw, leaving her mutilated, unfit for modeling work, and speechless as well. Shannon learns that her best friend Evie and her fiancee Manus were sleeping together. And even worse, Evie has taken advantage of Shannon's hospital stay to wear Shannon's clothes, forcing a size-nine body into the size-six outfits. In the hospital, Shannon meets Brandy Alexander, a transgendered individual who has undergone numerous operations to transform himself into a Shannon look-alike. Brandy has had all the operations but the final one to change his sex organs into a woman's.
After Shannon gets out of the hospital, Brandy and Shannon go on a road trip. For income and personal entertainment, they pose as rich property investors to gain access to large houses and raid the medicine cabinets for prescription drugs. Some they imbibe; others they sell. The story line progresses in a series of short flashbacks all starting with, "Jump to . . ." You quickly get used to the narrative style, and Palahniuk slowly paints the entire picture, revealing just a little bit at a time. We learn that Shannon wants revenge. First on Evie and Manus, and later on Brandy, who turns out to be Shannon's long-lost gay brother who supposedly died of AIDS years before, and whom Shannon blames -- living or dead -- for stealing all her parent's attention. Ultimately, it appears that everyone's self-loathing leads to radical actions. In an almost literally way, the characters try to change their inner feelings by altering their outward appearance. The physical changes ultimately leave all the characters unsatisfied, since the changes do not change the person inside.
I think Palahniuk wants to shock the readers with his vivid descriptions of beautiful but vapid fashion models, transgender individuals, horrific mutilations, and rampant drug use. As the story starts out, you may experience some surprises, but since every page deals with shocking situations, the stimulus quickly wears down and the horrible quickly becomes mundane. Invisible Monsters takes you for a nice ride with a few good twists and turns at the end, but when the ride is over, you wonder what all the screaming was about.
